


Field Trip

by Neyiea



Series: home is where you are [8]
Category: LazyTown
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-12
Updated: 2017-01-12
Packaged: 2018-09-17 02:25:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9299978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neyiea/pseuds/Neyiea
Summary: Stephanie's class is going to the Busy City Science Centre.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CaptainLeBubbles](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainLeBubbles/gifts).



> For Theo, who asked me about the other kids in this verse which was essentially the direct cause of me writing this.

They’re finished with dinner and Robbie has just started collecting empty dishes to transfer into the sink when Stephanie takes out a folded piece of paper and sets it in front of Sportacus with a smile.

“What’s this?”

“Permission slip. We’re going on a field trip in two weeks. Mrs. Penny said to ask if any parents would be free to come along as an ‘accompanying adult’.”

Sportacus unfolds the paper and skims over it

“It’s on a Tuesday? I might be able to switch out with someone so that I can come along.”

Robbie trails behind him and curiously plucks the slip of paper right out of Sportacus’s hand, eyes roving over the permission slip as well as the extra bit below, typed out so neatly with spaces left for a name to be printed and signed at the bottom by the parent and/or guardian.

“Oh, the Busy City Science Center, I haven’t been there since high school.” He sends a smile Stephanie’s way. “I have half a mind to stow-away on the bus with you.”

“That sounds like a great idea,” Stephanie says excitedly, and at the exact same time Sportacus goes, “You don’t have to be a stow-away on a bus, we can take the car.”

Father and daughter share a look, delighted at their like-mindedness.

Sportacus takes the paper out of Robbie’s hands with a wide smile, and then he grabs the pen that Stephanie dutifully offers up to sign the permission slip and fill in the blank spaces on the Accompanying Adult form.

He leaves enough room on the blank lines for Robbie to write his name. 

Robbie’s eyes feel suspiciously wet all of a sudden, but he blinks it away determinedly as he takes the pen Sportacus offers up to him. He leans, one hand braced on Sportacus’s shoulder, to print his name on the allotted line and then adds his signature beside Sportacus’s.

He may or may not take a moment to marvel at how nice their names look next to each other, and then Stephanie’s clapping hands drags his attention away.

“This is going to be so exciting,” she exclaims, looking as though she’s ready to start cartwheeling in anticipation.

“I’m certain it will be,” Robbie agrees, tapping at his chin in thought. “We should look up what exhibits they have, so that we can be sure to see everything we want.”

“Good idea Robbie, I’ll ask my friends what they would like to see the most, and we can all decide together!”

“Ah, yes, of course,”

Robbie has met Trixie, who’s a little more rough around the edges than Stephanie but ultimately a great kid, but he hasn’t met any of her other friends.

He feels nervous all of a sudden. Why was he nervous?

Oh right, because he was terrible at first impressions. 

Sportacus catches his eye as he stands and he links their fingers together, looking as though he has a pretty good idea about what’s going on in Robbie’s mind right now.

“I’m glad you’ll be coming along with us.”

“Well, I wouldn’t let you corral a hoard of pre-teens on your own,” Robbie tells him, and then adds quietly, “I’m glad too.”

Sportacus gives his hand a brief squeeze. 

Stephanie settles her face into her hands, elbows propped up on the table, grinning knowingly at them.

“I’m really glad too,” she chirps, “my friends are going to be so excited to meet you! I talk about you both a lot.”

“Only good things, I hope,” Robbie says with a small smile, Stephanie blinks up at him like she can’t quite imagine what other things she might say.

“Of course I say good things,” she stands up and sneaks past her father to situate herself in front of Robbie, arms wrapping around his waist. “And they’re all very true.” Her arms tighten as she adds seriously, “This is a self-depreciation free zone.”

Robbie bites down a laugh, arms folding around Stephanie’s shoulders.

Perhaps he’s worrying about nothing, after all.

When the day of the field trip dawns Stephanie chooses to take the bus with her friends, leaving Robbie and Sportacus to drive to the Science Center on their own. Robbie falls asleep in the passenger seat for half the drive, only to woken by Sportacus’s repeated calls of his name as they exit the highway. They’re able to park and make their way into the main lobby just as the school bus turns into the parking lot and Robbie picks up a few pamphlets and a map while waiting for the group of schoolchildren to be herded inside by their teacher.

It’s easy enough to spot Stephanie in the crowd, rocking back and forth on her heels as Mrs. Penny painstakingly ensures that each child is present and accounted for before she goes up to the main desk to get their passes. She’s barely turned her back on the children when Stephanie darts away, grabs both Robbie and Sportacus by the hand, and leads them over to one of the smaller groups that the kids had broken into when their teacher had stepped away.

“Dad, Robbie, these are my friends. There’s Trixie, of course.” She and Trixie share a smile. “And this is Pixel and Stingy.”

“Stingy?” Robbie’s brow furrows as he repeats the word incredulously. What kind of cruel parent would name a child after being ungenerous?

“It’s a nick-name,” Stingy responds with the dry air of someone who’s had to explain themselves too many times, “I don’t like my real name.”

Must be one hell of a name.

“Guys, this is my dad,” Stephanie introduces brightly, gesturing to her father. Sportacus lifts his hand in a cheerful salute. Then Stephanie steps to Robbie’s side. “And this is Robbie.”

She seems to put an extra bit of emphasis on his name, and Robbie takes a brief moment to ponder just how much she’s spoken to her friends about him.

The first one, Pixel, smiles widely and greets them both with a cheerful, “It’s nice to meet you!”

The second one, who is somehow managing to pull off a bowtie better than Robbie ever has, seems content with nodding at each of them with a quick, “hello”.

Mrs. Penny returns with the passes, handing them out to each of the accompanying adults with a wide smile. Robbie divides the passes between the children and adds, as an afterthought.

“One ground rule before we go in. Please don’t run out of sight.”

He’s pretty sure he hears Trixie make a disappointed sound.

“We’re not going to run anywhere Robbie,” Stephanie assures him, lightly nudging Trixie’s side, “that would be unsafe.”

“No ducking away without telling me where you’re going, then. I know I’m tall and have a good vantage point, and you’re easy to for me to spot, but if any of you slip away I may have an attack of some kind, which I am too young for.”

Stephanie tilts her head curiously. “Why am I easy to spot?”

“Well,” Robbie gestures to her vaguely, hoping to encompass how eye-catching her neon pink shirt it, “your clothes tend to set you apart.”

“Yeah.” Trixie nods in agreement. “It’s like you don’t own any clothes that don’t have pink in them.”

“Well of course,” Stingy says primly, “pink is her signature colour.”

Robbie can’t help the short bark of laughter that escapes his lips. The kids all turn in unison towards him.

“What? I understood that reference, is all.”

Sportacus chuckles under his breath, and together they all starting walking into the main part of the building.

“So, what does everyone want to see first?”

“I propose we just work our way from the top to the lower levels,” Pixel pipes up, a copy of a map already unfolded in his hands, “there are three floors, so as long as we keep track of time and spend close to an equal amount on each level we should be able to see a bit of everything. There are a lot of smaller, related exhibits clustered in the same area, so we can all look at different things while sticking fairly close together.”

Robbie leans over slightly to catch sight of the map, noting that highlighter marks and notations in pen had already been added to its heavily creased surface.

“Do you come here often?”

“Oh yeah, my dads take me here every summer!” Pixel grins. “There’s nothing new since I last visited, but some of the permanent exhibits are so good that they’re always worth going back to.”

“Some of the permanent exhibits have been around since I was young enough that school involved field-trips,” Robbie reports, a hint of a smile on his face. “I know that the bat-cave, for instance, is still around. That exhibit used to terrify me as a child.”

“Bat cave?” Trixie repeats, “as in Batman’s Bat Cave?”

“No, it’s a cave that you walk through that’s meant to make it feel like you’re in an enclosed space with a bunch of bats flying overhead.” He doesn’t remember it in startling detail, but he recalls the narrow passageway, the deep shadows, and the sound of bats screeching and flying overhead. It’s not something he is overly eager to return to, even as an adult.

Trixie’s expression, if anything, brightens at this information. Stingy, on the other hand, looks about as excited at the prospect as Robbie is.

“That sounds horrid.”

“Come on Stingy,” Trixie wheedles, “don’t be scared, it’s not real.”

Stingy purses his lips and crosses his arms. “I, for one, will be sitting that exhibit out.”

“I’m sure you’ll find something fun to do while we’re walking through,” Stephanie says, peering over at Pixel’s map eagerly. “It looks like there’s a lot of other cool stuff in that area. They’ve even got a couple of live exhibits!” 

Stingy leans in on Pixel’s other side, eyes skimming over the list of attractions. “I’m,” he starts with what seems like more emphasis than strictly necessary, “going to touch a tornado.”

“I’ll touch it before you,” Trixie says, and Stingy gasps in what seems like outrage.

“You shall not.”

“I will too.”

“Guys, guys,” Sportacus intervenes with a smile, “we’re at the first exhibit.”

That quickly shuts down any argument that may have taken place.

The kids rush from exhibit to exhibit, perhaps not running but definitely jogging. They pause only long enough to press their hands against Van de Graaf generators to watch their hair stand on end, or look through zoetropes, or hold a pose in front of a glowing wall and then turn to see their own captured silhouette, or try to complete tasks with their non-dominate hands. Even with his substantially longer legs Robbie has to adopt a brisk speed-walk in order to keep up with them as they dart throughout the first floor excitedly.

“Kids have so much energy,” he finds himself saying. Sportacus laughs and pats his back.

“That they do. You should have seen Stephanie running around when she was a toddler. She always kept me on my toes.”

“Of course she did.” Robbie nudges Sportacus meaningfully. “She obviously takes after you, I bet you were a terror at that age.”

Sportacus laughs. “Well, my parents would probably agree with you on that.”

They go through everything on the first floor in record time and are soon enough trailing down a set of stairs that leads down to the first of the basement levels. This floor is all about natural science, and Trixie and Stingy end up racing, despite Robbie’s reminder not to run, to see who can touch the tornado first with Stephanie and Pixel following along at a slightly more sedate pace. Stephanie declares their competition to be a tie and together she and Pixel corral their friends over to the entrance of the bat cave, Stingy coming to an abrupt halt and backtracking to stand next to Robbie as he realizes where he’s being lead.

“Try to have fun in there without me.”

Stephanie nods pleasantly, then she and Trixie links arms and laugh at something before they enter into the mouth of the cave, Pixel following closely behind. Sportacus casts a glance over his shoulder just as he starts to walk into the heavy shadows.

“Are you coming Robbie?”

“I’ll sit this one out too. If I go in there it’s going to make me feel like something’s in my hair.” He shudders, and then turns to look at Stingy, who is standing resolutely aside. “How would you like to come with me and see some poison dart frogs?”

“Poison frogs, you say?” Stingy cocks his head, considering.

“They’re really brightly coloured, and also toxic.” Robbie’s not entirely sure what else to say that might tempt him enough to come along. 

“Well, I suppose that sounds sufficient.” Stingy nods and steps alongside him. “Lead the way Mister… I don’t think Stephanie’s ever told me your last name.”

“Just call me Robbie, I’d like to think that I’m still too young to be a ‘Mister’.”

“That seems like a breach in etiquette, but if you insist then I, Stingy, will be respectful of your wishes.”

“Thanks Stingy,” Robbie says, lips quirking into a smile. “Now let’s go see some frogs.” 

It’s easy to be pulled in by all the fascinating exhibits on this particular floor; living frogs and snakes, a large aquarium full of tropical fish that Sportacus insists he gets a picture of all the kids standing in front of, skeletons of small and large creatures displayed in glass cases.

Robbie is admiring the set of teeth of a beaver when someone tugs on his shirtsleeve. He glances down to see Pixel staring up at him.

“I know we’re not completely done with the exhibits here, but the physics arcade is on the lowest floor and there are a lot of physical activities to do in there,” Pixel tells him. “We should probably break for lunch now, that way Stingy’s blood sugar won’t plummet.” 

Blood sugar. Plummet. 

Oh.

“Um. When you say something like that… What exactly would I be looking for if his blood sugar were to drop?”

“Don’t worry Robbie,” Pixel says with ease, “Stingy’s got it all under control, he’s very self-reliant. He brings his glucometer, snacks, and his fast-acting insulin pen with him everywhere just in case, and he never misses his insulin in the mornings.” He leans in a little closer, making a hand motion to bid Robbie to lean down a bit. “Besides, I always keep an eye on him too.”

“You’re a pretty good kid,” he finds himself saying. Pixel laughs and Robbie straightens himself out.

“Come on then, let’s round everybody up to get some lunch.”

**Author's Note:**

> Robbie doesn't question Pixel or Sportacus as a name, but Stingy? Clearly a line has been crossed.  
> Hello, Legally Blonde reference; that is exactly the sort of movie Robbie and Stephanie watch together.   
> The science centre is based off of my own vague recollections of the Ontario Science Centre, which I have not been to in years but suddenly want to visit again.  
> You'll have to pry type 1 diabetic Stingy out of my lifeless hands.
> 
> [the LazyTown side blog](https://neyieagetslazy.tumblr.com/)


End file.
